Rent vs Buy Calculator | Total Cost, Breakeven Year Comparison (Google Sheets, Excel)
$14.00
Description
Rent Vs Buy Calculator — Should you rent or buy? This calculator gives you the honest answer – the real total cost of each over the years you’ll stay, and the breakeven year where buying finally beats renting. No “always buy” bias.
What’s inside your Rent Vs Buy Calculator
Editable in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Change one assumption and the whole comparison updates.
What It Does
- Dashboard: the total net cost of buying vs renting over your stay, which is cheaper, and the breakeven year – plus a chart showing exactly where the two lines cross
- Buy Scenario: home price, mortgage, property tax, insurance, maintenance, appreciation and selling costs
- Rent Scenario: monthly rent, rent growth, and the return you’d earn investing the down payment you don’t tie up in a house
- Comparison: a year-by-year table of the true cost of each option if you sell at the end of each year
- How to Use: why the holding period and opportunity cost decide everything
Calculates
- Net cost of buying (cross-checked) – after appreciation and sale proceeds
- Net cost of renting – after investing your down payment
- The breakeven year – when buying overtakes renting
- Monthly payment vs monthly rent
What makes it honest: most rent-vs-buy tools ignore the return you’d earn investing your down payment if you rented, which biases the result toward buying. This one counts it on both sides – and the investment return is yours to set (try 4% cautious to 8% optimistic).
Who it’s for
Renters on the fence, first-time buyers, anyone relocating, and the financially careful who want a fair comparison – not a sales pitch.
Explore more in our Real Estate Calculators collection, or open it in Google Sheets.
Frequently asked questions
How is it delivered?
Instant download in Google Sheets, Excel & PDF — available right after checkout, with lifetime access.
Is it ready to use?
Yes — the formulas are built in. Enter your own numbers and it calculates automatically.
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